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Monday, September 13, 2010

A Love Letter to All Singletons

Instead of my usual rant about some silly online dating email or mishap that occurred over the weekend (Okay, I have to tell you just one, though...I got a random email from a guy on CatholicSingles.com. I wasn't even aware that my profile was active, and I guess had also forgotten that I had a brief moment of cleverness and spelled out my personal email address at the bottom of my description. Stupid, desperate girl. Anyway. I got an email from a guy who's opening line accused me of being "too cheap to pay for a membership." Cheap! Although I'll admit to being financially conscious, I prefer the word "frugal" to imply the description: "will not drain your bank account if we get married." Rant complete.), I intend to use this post/letter to (uh-hem) toot my own horn a bit and give you the appreciation and thanks you deserve.

After a little over six months of entering the blogosphere and filling the internet with much-needed dating shenanigans, I'm a different person. The insights and suggestions from and camaraderie with my fellow Singletons and even Marrieds who have found there way out of all of this silliness has truly changed my view. I had this narrow concept that I was the only one that was fighting what seemed like a losing battle. I initially started this blog as simply a way to get all of this stuff out of my head and ended up with a wonderful, daily conversation with friends, new and old, around the globe. You can't name a country that hasn't had at least one person view this page that you're reading right now. I'm ridiculously flattered. The homepage of Lost in Singledom has had over 6,000 hits (most of which started in July, my craziest dating month so far!) and, although that doesn't sound like much in the grand scheme of the internet, it's impressive to this old gal. I'm not selling you anything; I'm not giving anything away; we're just talking and I love that you've helped me through all this. Granted, I haven't found the gate to Coupledom yet, but you've definitely made the path in Singledom a little less pot-holey.

And the word is out! With my daily declarations of my status, it's becoming cool to be single for the first time in my life! Friends are messaging me for advice (holy cow...I'm adding them to my prayer list) about online dating, real world dating, people have introduced me to their single male friends (possibly in hopes of getting some blog time, but I digress), and I can't tell you how many people I see who refer to the men I've met by their Lost in Singledom moniker, even if they know their real names!

Yesterday, it hit me. I got a real dose of how I've become a local poster-child for Singletons. A friend of mine surprised me with a gift that was so appropriate and so blog-worthy that I have to share:

Who doesn't love a personality-themed coffee mug? Although, I'm seriously considering adding the word "temporarily" below the print or scribbling in Sharpie "But, I'm happy to lose my mind someday" on the back. Not only do I love the gift and the statement, but I love that I'm known as a Singleton who isn't afraid to complaingripewhine talk about it online. Even if I had other visions in mind as a child, I'm more than happy to take this route to Stardom, thanks to you.

Love your #1 fan,Melanie

P.S. Between me and you, I've actually got some competition out there! A new blog recently appeared featuring a lot of the same features of Lost in Singledom, even some of the same words/titles. Can you believe it? After some coaxing down off the defensive ledge, I was convinced by a dear friend that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

P.P.S. A big thanks to the blogosphere for new friendships and reunions with old friends. I'm loving every minute of it.

4 comments:

I'm still loving the blog! I can't believe that someone else is copying you but like you said...imitation is the higest form of flattery and obviously if they feel the need to copy you they are very impressed with your work and feel that what they come up with is probably not as good as what you say so they just add your same tites, etc.

Hi Melanie! This is your Swedish friend Kajsa from college! I didn't realize you ALSO have a blog. I know I am 6 months late, but...I love the tone, the navel gazing and the exciting online dating stories, cleverly narrated...wouldn't be surprised if the publishing houses calls soon...or maybe you should call them! It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship :-)Adding you as a favorite read in my links list!

Hi Kajsa! So glad you found my blog! Thank you so much for your lovely compliments. Oh, to get a phone call from a publishing house would literally be a dream come true. One of these days I'm going to sit my butt down and start cranking out some of these story ideas I have (and once I finally invest in an at-home computer!). Glad you're here, can't wait to see more comments from you, and I'm looking for your blog as we speak (and adding Ghana to the list of countries with Singledom readers!).